Puzzle guide
How to solve Tents
Tents is a campsite puzzle. Every tree gets its own tent right beside it, the tents keep their distance from each other, and the numbers at the edge count the tents in each row and column. Here are the ideas that put every tent in its place.
The rules
- Every tree gets one tent of its own, right next to it: above, below, left or right.
- Tents never touch each other, not even at a corner.
- The number next to a row or column tells you how many tents are in it.
- There are exactly as many tents as trees.
A solved puzzle
Your first moves
- Mark grass on every cell that has no tree beside it. Those cells can never hold a tent.
- Find rows and columns with a 0: they are all grass.
- Each time you pitch a tent, mark grass on the eight cells around it.
- Look for trees with only one free cell left beside them. That cell is their tent.
Techniques, step by step
No tree, no tent
A tent always stands right next to its tree, above, below, left or right. So a cell with no tree beside it can never hold a tent. Put grass on it. On a new board this one idea clears a large part of the field before you have pitched a single tent.
Grass around a tent
Tents never touch, not even at a corner. So as soon as you pitch a tent, all eight cells around it are grass (except the tree cells, which stay trees). Do this every time: those new grass cells are what leave other trees with only one choice.
A full row
The coloured row says 1, and it already has its tent. It cannot hold another, so every other cell in it is grass. A row or column with a 0 is the same from the start: grass all the way.
Just enough room
Now the other way round. The coloured row says 2, and only two of its cells are still free. Both of them must be tents. Whenever a row or column has exactly as many free cells as tents still missing, fill them all.
A tree's last free cell
This tree has grass above it, to its left and to its right. Its tent has only one place left: below it. Look for these trees after every grass mark you make; they are how most easy and medium boards are solved.
Fitting tents into a row
The coloured row needs 2 tents, and three cells next to each other are free. Two tents that may not touch can only fit into three cells one way: at both ends, with grass in the middle. On longer rows, try every way the missing tents could fit without touching. A cell that is a tent in all of them is a tent, and a cell that is a tent in none is grass.
Every tree its own tent
Tents and trees come in pairs, one each. A tent that stands beside only one tree belongs to that tree, and then that tree needs no other tent. On hard boards, check what a move would do to the pairs: if a tent here would leave some tree with no tent of its own, the cell is grass.
Common mistakes
- Tents touching at a corner. Diagonal counts as touching. Mark the eight cells around every tent.
- A tent beside two trees counted for both. Each tent belongs to one tree only. Two trees need two tents.
- A tent placed diagonally to its tree. It must stand above, below, left or right of the tree.
- Forgetting the numbers. Check each row and column count when you think you are done: the app dims a number once its line holds that many tents.
Questions and answers
Ready to play?
Grass where no tree is near, grass around every tent, full rows and a tree's last free cell: pitch your tents one by one and the campsite fills up.